Assessment of Electric Two-Wheelers Development in Establishing a National E-Mobility Roadmap to Promote Sustainable Transport in Vietnam

Abstract

Faced with increasing environmental pollution due to traffic concentration in big cities, Vietnam, as well as many countries worldwide, has encouraged its people to use environmentally-friendly vehicles. Because the transport mode is dominated by two-wheelers (i.e., motorcycles and mopeds) (2Ws), electrifying 2Ws has the potential for significant air pollution reductions as an alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles in Vietnam. Therefore, there has recently been an increasing trend of shifting from traditional gasoline two-wheeler vehicles to electric two-wheelers (E2Ws). Depending on different local contexts, some countries/regions quickly adopted the policies/incentives, and new technologies for E2W usage, while others acted more slowly. In order to advance the use of E2Ws in Vietnam, assessing E2W user preferences is essential to classify and prioritize further solutions, which would be instrumental in fulfilling user expectations. However, a few academic works pay attention to this field of the Vietnamese E2W market. In response to this research gap, this paper aims to overview the current status of E2W usage, assess the market development of E2Ws, and evaluate the battery charging business models in Vietnam. The questionnaire survey was carried out to evaluate the preferences of E2W users in the Vietnamese market, while the assessment of E2W development was conducted based on the SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis. The results demonstrated that E2W deployment is still at an exploratory stage in the transportation industry and is growing significantly in Vietnam. This study also revealed significant challenges for E2W adoption, especially the E2W battery charging/swapping system. Thus, it is recommended that incentives for E2W uptake and the battery charging infrastructure system should be improved and implemented. The evaluation of E2W perceptions in the three-city context is realized as exploratory, generating the baseline for further research when the survey can engage more respondents in other places to confirm the current research findings. The study can also assist policymakers and investors in comprehensively assessing the opportunities and challenges and provide recommendations for accelerating the growth of E2Ws in Vietnam for establishing a national e-mobility roadmap and thereby promoting sustainable transport in alignment with the COP26.